With the rise in the price of groceries, rents and inflation, many students are struggling to make ends meet and fear the start of the school year in the coming days.
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“It’s difficult. We go there one week at a time, ”testified a CEGEP student to TVA Nouvelles.
Some have help from loved ones, but not everyone does. Students are turning to their educational institution for help.
“We have an excellence scholarship program for successful students,” elaborated Jean-François Ouellet, director of student community services at the University of Quebec at Rimouski (UQÀR). “We also have a scholarship program for financial support. We always offer the possibility of using grocery vouchers.
“We have emergency funds. These emergency funds are here to support student success [en soutenant] basic needs, so food, housing,” added Annie-France Pelletier, assistant director of the promotion, information and communications office at Cégep de Rimouski.
To be able to concentrate on your studies, CEGEPs and universities recommend working no more than 15 hours a week. But with the current economic context, is it realistic?
“The student population has never worked so much,” admitted Maya Labrosse, president of the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec (FECQ). “She works more than she should to put energies on her studies”.
To help students, the FECQ is therefore calling for an increase in the minimum wage to $18 an hour, financial compensation for all internships and a national strategy on student housing.
“[En 2021], 34% of the student population reported not having enough money to support themselves. So we can only suspect that at the moment, in a context of inflation, it is even more problematic, “said Maya Labrosse.
CEGEPs and universities have indicated that they are sensitive to the situation of students and other assistance measures may be added soon.